The Washington critic., 1887-12-07
HoUDoN's WASHINGTON.
The Statue Mt Richnond, With n Sketch of
the SaiIlntOr.

the sculptor.
The marble statue of Washington in
the State Capital at Richmond, Va, was
erected on May IA, 1896, and was made
by Houdon, an eminent French sculptor,
from plaster-cast which was made
from Washington's living face in Octo-
ber, 1855. Houdon was selected for the
work and employed by Thomas Jeirer-
sony who was at that time American
Minister to France), acting under the
authority of the Legislature of Virginia.
The statue represents Washington in
civic, not military, attire, standing erect,
with his head bare and thrown slightly
back, right hand slightly extended and
resting upon cane, his left hand rest
ing upon the top of n bundle of lictors'
rods or fasces, covered in part by his
cloak and supporting his sword, while n
rude plowshare lies at his feet. The
pedestal, which is also OF marble, bears
upon its face the inscription, and upon
the other three sides bas-reliefs of the
evacuation of Boston, the capture of
the Hessans and the capitulation at
Yorktown. 1t has been considered the
and although somewhat yellow with age,
Sss'A ASe"Aho ehS oe'hiP "a "itipeiS 6StAuo'
HoUDoN's HISTORY.
Houdon, who received one thousand
guineas and his expenses while at work
on the statue, was an eminent man in his
profession, was born in Versailles
an 1746; studied in Rome, where he pro-
duced statues of st. John and others,
and became famous for the classic
beauty Of his female figures. He was
Knight of the Legion of Honor, and
died in 1928. In order to secure the best
possible results from his labors he be-
came an inmate Of Washington's house,
at Mount Vernon, and it was during this
residence that he made the plaster-cast
referred to above.
In 1890 an Englishman named Wright
took plaster-cast, from which he made
bust. Washington speaks of it thus:
Wright came to Mount Vernon with
the singular request that ! should per-
init him to take model of my face in
plaster of paris, to which / consented
with some reluctance. He oiled my
features, and, placing me Hat upon my
back upon cot, proceeded to daub my
lace with the plaster. Whilst ! was in
this ludicrous attitude Mrs. Washington
entered the room, and seeing my face
thus overspread with plaster, involun-
tarily exclaimed. Her cry excited in
me disposition to smile, which gave
my mouth slight twist, or compression
of the lips, that is now observable in the
busts which Wright afterwards made"
APLAsTER cory
of Houdon's original staSie occupies
prominent positisa upon the eastern
side Of 'As National Statuary Hall in the
United States Capitol, but it attracts very
little attention from sight-seers. Just
when it was placed there or when it was
made the writer is unable to learn 1t
Is mentioned in the guide-book, in 1876,
but Bohn's Handbook, 1862, contains
no reference to it. The copy WIS said
to have been taken by an artist named
Hubbard, and it is singular fact that n
recent article in the Art Amateur states
that there is in the possession Of the
family of bronze founder in France,
named IIuard, bronze proof of the
original Houdon's statue, but the writer
did not know how it was obtained nor
what right they have to it.
When LOSING, the American bisto-
rian, visited Mt. Vernon in October,
1858, he was shown the original plaster
cast or mask made by lloudon. The |
statue was made in 1888.
REDWOOD.